the best way to buy a home is to pay cash. Since that is not reasonable for most people though, a house payment of no longer than fifteen years is ideal. If you can't afford a fifteen year mortgage than you probably shouldn't buy a bigger house. Because, at some point, with a paid off house you can make yourself a millionaire by freeing up cash to invest. The term "house poor"comes from the idea that you own a really big beautiful home, but have no cash after making your payment.

Now where I disagree is that a mortgage payment is comparable wroth a car lease payment. You will almost always get back more money on the sale of a home than what you paid for it. Cars on the other hand are not an investment. They depreciate faster than almost anything else we buy. Rich people tend not to tie up money for long periods of time (car payments and leases) in things that don't appreciate in value.

In short, the real comparison is renting vs. buying. Mortgage payments (when reasonable to one's income) are an investment, usually with a better ROI than you can find on the stock market. This is a great place to tie up your cash because it will make you more cash.

Lease payments, whether on a car or home, are not investments because they tie up your cash in items that you will never own, or depreciate in value.

Does this make sense?